A Guide to Thief: The Dark Project

INTRODUCTION

In Thief: The Dark Project you play the character of Garrett, a hardened thief of the highest caliber. Shadows and silence are your allies. Light is your enemy. Stealth and cunning are your tools. And the riches of others are yours for the taking.

You ply your trade in the City, preying on the rich nobility and corrupt merchants who are no more deserving of their worldly goods than a hard-working thief. You have a reliable fence, named Cutty, who's always on the lookout for good jobs. So far, he's never let you down.

Every job comes with some danger. Being a thief means always being one misstep away from finding an angry guard bearing down on you with a drawn blade. For those unfortunate moments, you carry a sword yourself. A blackjack and a short-bow are also part of your arsenal. Fighting is not your first choice, but sometimes it's the only option.

More often, the road to riches is dark and silent. You have tools designed to deceive your enemies, tools which can keep you out of danger, and tools to help you get into those hard-to-reach places. You are a thief, not a warrior. So keep your wits about you, and you won't lose your head.

GAME SCREENS

Main Menu

NEW GAME - starts a new game of Thief. Typically, you'll only ever press this button once. It will present you with a "New Game" screen, detailed below.
LOAD GAME - brings up a screen from which you can load a previously saved game.
OPTIONS - brings up a screen from which you can adjust video settings, sound and music volume, etc. These are detailed below.
PLAY INTRO - replays the game's intro sequence.
CREDITS - shows you the names of all the people who worked to bring you Thief.
QUIT - quits.

New Game Screen

This is where you choose your difficulty level. It defaults to "Normal," but if you want more of a challenge, you can select "Hard," and if you're feeling exceptionally stealthy, choose "Expert." For your first time playing Thief, we strongly recommend that you begin with the Training Mission. The Training Mission introduces you to some key concepts of stealthy gameplay, and will help you understand how to succeed. If you've played Thief before, or are just overconfident, you can skip this mission.

Options Screen

CONTROLS - brings up a screen from which you can reconfigure your input controls.

VIDEO OPTIONS - brings up a screen from which you can set various video options, such as hardware on/off, resolution mode, and gamma correction.

Thief

AUDIO OPTIONS - brings up a screen from which you can set various audio options, such as sound-effect volume, number of available channels, and hardware acceleration. Sound plays an important role in Thief. When you're sneaking around some guy's house at night, you want to be able to hear which direction the armed guard is coming from, how close he is, and what sort of surface he's walking on. If your sound card supports hardware acceleration using DirectSound3D, we strongly recommend that you use it while playing Thief. Turning on this option will also enable 3D positional audio (such as A3D) on supported cards, which significantly enhances the Thief experience. If you're not sure if your sound card supports DirectSound3D, or are unsure of how to get it working, refer to the documentation that came with it. You kept all that stuff, right?

In-Mission Menu

You can bring up the following menu of options in the middle of a mission, by pressing the ESC key:

CONTINUE: go back to playing the mission
OPTIONS: takes you to the options menu, described above
SAVE GAME: lets you save your game
LOAD GAME: lets you load a previously-saved game
MAP: brings up your mission map
OBJECTIVES: brings up your mission objectives, with information about which (if any) you've completed.
ABORT: quits the mission.

LOADOUT

Before each mission starts, you'll go through a loadout screen, in which you can see the tools you'll have for the upcoming mission.

The left column of this screen shows your starting gear. This will vary from mission to mission.

The right column shows you a selection of items for sale, along with their prices.

The center column shows you what items you have purchased so far.

Clicking on an item in any of these columns will select it, and bring up a short description of the item. To purchase an item, click on it in the "For Sale" column, and then click the left-facing arrow button to move it into the "Purchased" column. This will decrease your Cash total (shown below your starting gear) by the price of your purchase. If you change your mind about a purchase, click on its icon in the "Purchased" column, and move it back to the store with the right-facing arrow button. (This will also give you your money back.)

From the Loadout Screen, you can replay the briefing, and review the mission goals.

There are descriptions of all player tools in the section below, Player Tools.

MOVEMENT

Walking and Running

As a thief, you'll spend a majority of your time walking, or prowling, as they say in the trade. Running is useful for getting out of trouble once you've gotten into it, but most of the time, walking is safer. This is because running is noisy, and you'll be more easily noticed. When walking, you are less likely to be seen and heard by others, which is almost always preferable.

The default mappings for movement controls are provided at the back of the manual.

Climbing

Expect to spend some of your time climbing: jumping up on walls, climbing ladders, and shimmying up ropes. There are two different ways to climb: scaling and mantling. Scaling means climbing up ropes and ladders. Mantling is when you pull yourself up onto a high surface.

To scale, position yourself in front of the object or surface you want to climb, and jump into it. This will "stick" you to that object or surface. Once you are in this climbing mode, the walk and run keys will move you along the ladder/rope/climbable surface, in the direction you are facing. If you want to ascend a ladder or rope, look up, and move forward. To descend, look down and move forward. Jumping while in scaling mode will cause you to let go of the object or surface you are scaling.

Mantling will happen automatically, anytime you jump while facing a ledge low enough for you to grab hold. This is also how you pull yourself out of the water after swimming.

Swimming

Sometimes, swimming is the only means of getting where you need to be. Other times, the water makes a good temporary hiding place. Just remember that splashing around in the water makes noise, and can draw unwanted attention to your position.

Swimming is easy: just face the direction you want to swim, and move forward. When you want to leave the water, swim to a ledge low enough for you to climb, and jump.

Current

Some water will have current, which will be visibly apparent. Swimming against the current will be slower than swimming with the current, and if a current is too strong, it will be impossible to make upstream progress.

Drowning

Stay underwater too long, and you'll drown. While you're underwater, you'll see a row of bubbles appear on the lower-right portion of the screen. These bubbles represent your air supply. As you stay underwater, these bubbles will slowly disappear. When there are no more bubbles, you'll start drowning, and taking damage.

INTERACTING WITH THE WORLD

Using objects in general

Most objects in Thief can be used in some way. There is a single use button (the default is the right mouse button) which is used on all such objects. What happens when you use an object depends on the object - you use an unlocked door, the door will open. If you use a piece of treasure, you'll take it. If you use a book, you'll read it.

Using objects in the world

To use an object in the world, center it in the 3D view. When an object is centered, it will light up. Pressing the use button will use the highlighted object.

When you use an object in the world, one of two things will happen, depending on the type of object it is:

The object will be manipulated right there in the world. Things like doors, levers, and holy water fountains fit this description.
The object will be picked up and put into your inventory. Things like arrows, treasure, skulls, keys, and potions go into your inventory when used. You'll see a spinning picture of the object at the bottom of the screen - the type of object it is determines its exact location.

When objects go into your inventory, they're either weapons, general inventory, or junk. Weapons are things that you swing at people or shoot from your bow, using the attack button (see Combat below). General inventory is anything that's not a weapon, but you want to hang on to anyway. Maybe it's valuable loot, or maybe it's something you can carry around and use later with the use button. Junk is anything you wouldn't want to hang on to, but might want to move around, like corpses or debris, or possibly throw to distract or injure an enemy. The only effect of using junk once you've picked it up is to throw or drop it, and while you're carrying junk you can't attack, or use general inventory items. The use button will throw junk, and the release key (default: R) will drop junk, which is generally quieter. (Note: weapons will appear in the bottom left corner of the screen, junk in the bottom center, and general inventory in the bottom right.)

Using objects in your general inventory

Anything that you've picked up which isn't a weapon or junk will be in your general inventory. You can cycle through your inventory items with the TAB key. The item that appears in the lower right corner of the screen is your currently selected inventory item. If you have more than one of the same kind of object in your general inventory, you'll see the total number you have next to the item. If you have picked up more than one "loot" object, you'll see the total value of all the loot you have. (Note: loot and treasure items go into your inventory, but cannot be used.)

To use your selected inventory item, press the use button. If it's a potion, this will drink it. If it's a scroll, this will read it. If it's a Flashbomb, this will toss it into the world. And so on.

Inventory items will only stay on screen for fifteen seconds after they are selected. If there is no item highlighted in the world, and you have no inventory item selected, hitting TAB will select the last inventory item you had selected.

Using inventory objects with objects in the world

Some objects in your inventory (like keys) can be used on objects in the world. To use (for example) a key on a door, select and use the key. The key icon will zip the center of the screen, indicating that it can be used on other objects. Then center the door on your screen, so that it becomes highlighted. Using the door while your key is centered will use the key on the door.

Picking pockets

The great thing about being a thief is that you can pick up things that someone else foolishly thinks they're hanging on to. Of course, the pocket hasn't actually been invented yet, but many people will have a key or a purse of coins hanging at their hip. If they don't know you're there, you can take their possessions right off their belts! This works just as if the object were sitting out anywhere else (see Using object in the world, above), the only problem being getting close enough to remain undetected by the object's onetime owner!

COMBAT

Sometimes, thieving can be made easier by a measured application of force. Usually, this means a stealthy sword-blow from behind, or a well-placed arrow shot from a place of concealment. In a desperate situation, a frontal one-on-one melee may be the best option. Hey, it's always good to have options.

To attack with any weapon, use the attack button. (The default is the left mouse button.) To put away any readied weapon, press the "~" key.

The Sword

To draw your sword, press the "1" key. You'll see a spinning sword in the lower left corner of the screen, showing you the currently selected weapon. While your sword is drawn, you will move slightly slower than your normal speed, and you will be more visible to enemies. Also, remember that people in the world who might otherwise ignore you could become alarmed if you have your sword drawn.

To attack with the sword, press and hold the attack button to draw back the blade, and release the button to swing. The amount of time you hold down the button will determine the height and ferocity of the swing:

Keeping the attack button down for a shorter amount of time executes a left-to-right or right-to-left slash. Release the button too early (before you hear Garrett softly grunt) and the attack will be weak and do little damage.
Keeping the attack button down for a longer period of time executes a powerful overhead slash.

You'll see the sword move to different positions as you hold down the attack button.

To execute a block, press the block key (default: F)

The Bow

To ready an arrow, first select the type of arrow you wish to fire, using the 3 through 9 keys. (3 is for the standard broadhead arrows; the other numbers are for special types of arrows, described below.) You'll see an image of the arrow in the lower left corner of the screen, showing you the currently selected weapon. While your bow is drawn, you will move much slower than your normal speed, and be more visible to your enemies. As with the sword, walking around with your bow drawn back might make some people nervous.

To draw the bow, press and hold the attack button. The longer you hold down the attack button, the farther back you'll draw the string, and the farther the arrow will go when you release it. When the onscreen bow reaches its full extension, you've reached maximum power.

Use the sight on the bow to aim the arrow. It will take some practice to learn how high or low you should aim, and how much you should lead moving targets.

The Blackjack

The blackjack is a blunt club-like weapon, used for knocking a foe unconscious quickly and quietly. It has the disadvantages that you must get right up behind an enemy to use it, and that it won't work on alerted and armed foes. Its big advantages are that 1) your target won't have time to scream and potentially alert other nearby enemies, and 2) using a blackjack won't leave messy bloodstains, which could be noticed by others. Also, the blackjack will not slow you down when readied. Lastly, unlike with the other weapons, having the blackjack readied will not make you more visible to enemies.

To ready the blackjack, press the "2" key. You'll see a picture of the blackjack in the lower-left corner of the screen, showing that as your currently selected weapon.

Press and hold the attack button to draw back the blackjack, and release the button to swing. Remember to aim for an opponent's head - swatting them in the legs is unlikely to knock them out. Also, don't bother using the blackjack on any sort of creature without a brain. Assuming there are any.

Your Health

Being a thief is a dangerous business. Get hit with a foe's weapon, or fall a long distance, or go swimming in lava, and you'll take damage. Your health is represented by a row of red shields on the bottom left corner of the screen. As you take damage, these shields will disappear one by one. When you run out of shields, you're dead. So don't do that.

Player Tools

In addition to having a sword, a bow, and a blackjack, Garrett will sometimes have other tools at his disposal. Each of these exist in limited quantities, so use them wisely.

Arrows

In the world of Thief, there are seven types of arrows, described in detail below. Broadhead arrows are conventional in nature and are provided in all missions. Other arrow types - water arrows, fire arrows, gas arrows and moss arrows - are added to your inventory when you pick up a crystal of the appropriate type. (Water Crystals add water arrows, Fire Crystals add fire arrows, Air Crystals add gas arrows, and Earth Crystals add moss arrows.) You can also find or purchase rope arrows and noisemaker arrows, which do not require crystals.

To use an arrow, make it your currently-selected weapon using the appropriate key. Now the bow will automatically shoot that type of arrow until a) you run out of them, or b) switch to a different weapon.

**The Arrow Hotkeys**
3	Broadhead Arrow
4	Water Arrow
5	Fire Arrow
6	Moss Arrow
7	Gas Arrow
8	Rope Arrow
9	Noisemaker Arrow

Water Arrow: Water arrows' primary use is to extinguish torches, creating more darkness and shadows in which to hide. They can also be used to wash away incriminating blood stains from any surface, and can be used with Holy Water (see below) to create arrows which are highly effective against undead.
Fire Arrow: Unlike ordinary arrows, fire arrows will travel in a flat trajectory until they hit something. At their point of impact, they explode, doing damage to everything in the vicinity, and burning flammable objects. No, they're not very stealthy, but they're good for creating a distraction, and they do a lot of damage. Sometimes a fiery explosion is exactly what you want.
Moss Arrow: When a moss arrow strikes a surface, it blossoms into a patch of soft moss. When this moss drops to the ground (assuming you didn't just shoot it at the ground to begin with), it will sprout a number of smaller moss patches in that vicinity. Walking on these moss patches makes almost no noise whatsoever. So if you need to sneak up on a guard, but to do so means crossing a tile floor, covering the tile with moss will allow you to make your approach in silence.
Gas Arrow: Gas arrows are extremely potent. They create a small cloud of knock-out gas at their point of impact, which will render all humans and some creatures unconscious. If you're good, you can knock out multiple targets with one gas arrow, but the targets have to be close together.
Rope Arrow: Rope arrows can only be fired successfully into wooden materials. When they hit, they will embed themselves in the struck surface, and a rope will extend straight downward from the point of impact. These ropes can be climbed just like ladders (see climbing above).
Noisemaker Arrow: Noisemakers are used for distraction. Upon impact, they will start making an odd noise, and so can be used to draw guards away from places you want to go. Remember that when someone discovers the true source of the noise, they'll probably grow a bit suspicious.

Keys and Lockpicks

Garrett is a master of "acquiring" useful things, and this includes keys, should some lord be so rude as to leave things locked. Garrett has other solutions to a locked door at his disposal, though.

All locks have a swinging bolt which shows whether the mechanism is locked. Your aim as a thief is to get that bolt to the vertical (unlocked) position. The correct key will do this quickly and quietly, but many locks can also be opened with picks. A lock will have one or more tumblers. Each tumbler will move the bolt partway if picked, and certain tumblers may only respond to certain picks. To pick locks, select a pick, use it on the lock, and hold down the "use" button until the bolt moves. If you're making progress on that tumbler, you'll be able to hear it - but so will any nearby guards! If you don't hear the constant sound of Garrett picking the lock, you might try another pick. If that fails, then your unwitting host didn't skimp on that lock, and you'll have to find the key.

If all else fails, and the door isn't too sturdy, it may be time to take out your sword. But bashing a door open makes lockpicking seem silent by comparison!

Bombs and Mines

To use a bomb or a mine, make it your currently-selected inventory item, and press the use button. This will throw it out in front of you, into the world.

Flash Bomb: A flash bomb will burst on impact with any surface or object, and temporarily stun any creature (well, any creature with eyes) that can see the explosion.
Explosive Mine: An explosive mine will sit around waiting for something to wander by, and then explode, doing a great deal of damage and making a great deal of noise. Like fire arrows, they're not very stealthy, but can be highly effective in the right situations.
Gas Mine: Gas mines are used just like Explosive mines, but instead of exploding when triggered, they release a cloud of potent knock-out gas. (See gas arrows above.)

Potions

Healing Potion: This does exactly what you think it does. Select it as your inventory item, and right-click to drink it.
Air Potion: This potion provides an extra gulp or two of air, which is useful when you're underwater and have been holding your breath for too long. Select it as your inventory item, and right-click to "drink" it.
Speed Potion: This potion increases your running speed a great deal, but only lasts a short period of time. Perfect for a quick getaway.

The Visibility Gem

There is one other important tool, which is in effect all the time. This is the visibility gem, a yellow gemstone at the bottom center of the screen. The visibility gem is used to measure your current level of visibility, which is affected by a number of things; light level, movement speed, and whether or not you have a weapon drawn are among the things that impact your visibility. If you are running directly under a street lamp with your sword drawn, the gem will be at full brightness. If you are standing still in a deep shadow with your sword and bow put away, the gem will be dark. The gem has several grades of brightness, which correspond to different levels of visibility. If you're not sure how easy you are to see at any given moment, check the visibility gem.

Controls

The best reference to Thief controls is the configuration screen in the game itself, accessible from the options menu. It will have the most up-to-the-last-minute information about keyboard and mouse controls in Thief.